qurbejoog
Assad ready to quit power ?
On July 20, 2012 · In News
1:27 pm
..
0
Paris- Russia’s ambassador to France Alexandre Orlov, said on Friday he believed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had accepted he would have to leave power although only in an orderly fashion.
But the Syrian government swiftly denied this.
Orlov said that Assad, facing a surging uprising against his rule, signalled readiness to step down when he accepted a recent international declaration which foresaw a transition towards a more democratic Syria.
“At the Geneva conference, there was a final communique that foresees a transition towards a more democratic system,’’ Orlov said.
“This final communique was accepted by Assad. Assad nominated his representative to lead the negotiations with the opposition for this transition. That means he accepted to leave, but in an orderly way.’’
Syria’s Information Ministry quickly denied this, saying Orlov’s remarks were “completely devoid of truth’’.
Orlov further said his personal opinion Assad would not be able to remain in power.
“I think it will be difficult for him to stay after everything that has happened. But essentially, he has accepted that he will have to leave.’’
Russia on Thursday blocked a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution that would have contained a threat to impose sanctions if Syria did not comply with UN-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
Moscow has repeatedly said any deal must follow the principles outlined at talks in Geneva on June 30 between Annan and veto-holding members of the Security Council, which Russia until now had said did not specifically require Assad’s exit.
“What Russia is defending is not Bashar al-Assad’s regime, but international order that was created in 1945 around the UN,’’ Orlov said.
“For us it is a matter of principle that goes beyond what is happening in Syria.’’
A senior Western diplomat recommended caution with respect to Orlov’s comments. “We have not heard Assad say he is willing to step down before,’’ the diplomat said.
“But what does he mean? Does he mean now or in two years time. We have to be cautious.’’ (Reuters/NAN)
MOGADISHU – Al Shabaab militants have beheaded two Somali policewomen, prompting a policeman to kill five women linked to the group who were being held for a possible swap of captives, an official said on Wednesday. The policeman killed the women — all wives of rebels from the Somali Islamist group — after discovering the…
A 26-year-old man is accused of a hate crime after allegedly beating a Somali American cab driver while calling him a “terrorist” and asking him if he was a member of ISIS. Two other passengers who rode with him allegedly participated in the early Sunday morning assault, according to police. Jesse Alexander Fleming, 26, was charged…
There is a need for more affordable housing in Eden Prairie. At a public meeting held at the Eden Prairie library on Wednesday, there were calls for more housing. Eden Prairie is home to the third largest Somali community in the metro, behind Minneapolis and St. Paul. Since the 90s, so many Somali’s have moved…
DULUTH, Ga.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) continues to deliver consumer transaction technologies and financial services around the world by installing Somalia’s first-ever automated teller machine (ATM) in Mogadishu, the East African country’s capital, with Salaam Somali Bank. “From ATM technology to mobile banking and advanced payments software, NCR Financial Services delivers the most complete Financial Services…
On December 2, 2014, gunmen from the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab crept into a labourers’ camp in Mandera in Kenya and killed 36 people. In the same all-too-familiar modus operandi seen in the same area in the November bus attack, in Mpketoni in June and at the Westgate mall in Nairobi in September 2013, Christians…
Abu Dhabi, 09 December 2014 H.E. Mustafa Duhulow, the Minister of Information of Somalia was a keynote speaker of today’s Global Communications Expo in Abu Dhabi, that brings diverse experts to collaborate in developing and implementing innovative Counter Violent Extremists communications activities. The Minister said “We need to fully empower our young people, so that…
MANDERA (Xinhua) — The Kenyan government has derived plans to have 370 non-Muslims seeking refuge at the Mandera military camp moved without conceding the calls for evacuation. The move follows two attacks by militants in the past two weeks over a Nairobi-bound bus, in which they brutally killed 28 non Muslims and the massacre of…
Mogadishu: More than three million people in war-torn Somalia- 20 per cent more than last year- need urgent help because of malnutrition, war and other crises, the United Nations said today. The warning came three years after more than 250,000 people died of hunger in the troubled east African country. “The people of Somalia continue…
Calgary police are investigating a late Friday afternoon shooting following the discovery of a man suffering from a gunshot wound to his throat. Shortly after 6:00 p.m., an unidentified male, in need of medical assistance, entered a restaurant in the 5000 block of 17 Ave. S.E. Staff called 911 and emergency crews were deployed. EMS…
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud pledged on Saturday to appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible. The President’s pledge came only hours after his country’s parliament had withdrawn confidence from Somalia’s prime minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed. “I welcome the decision reached by the members of parliament through a voting process,” Mohamoud said in…
Minority problem is a recurrent issue in almost all parts of the world, including the more inclusive USA. On Thursday (Dec. 4) evening a 15-year-old Muslim boy of Somali descent – Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein – was struck by a SUV intentionally as he was leaving the Somali Center of Kansas City after leading a prayer service…
Mogadishu, 6 December 2014-The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today held an event to mark the Human Rights Day ahead of the International Human Rights Day December 10, 2014 to highlight the violations against the Human Rights Defenders, especially the attacks against the press in Somalia including harassment, intimidation, unlawful or arbitrary arrest and…
A woman died this evening after falling approximately five storeys at about 4.45pm, in Triq il-Hamrija, Marsascala. Preliminary investigations found that the victim, an 18-year-old Somali woman, who resides in Marsascala fell from a balcony. She was immediately conveyed to Mater Dei Hospital by ambulance, where she was certified to be in a critical condition….
The Somali parliament on Saturday voted to withdraw confidence from Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed and his government. Some 153 MPs voted in favor of a motion to withdraw confidence from the Premier, while 80 legislators voted against. Last month, 165 MPs drafted a bill in the 275-member assembly withdrawing confidence from the premier, who…
Mogadishu, Dec. 6, 2014 (SDN)- Somalia’s parliament has voted out its second prime minister in a year. International donors had warned the move would threaten the war-torn nation’s fragile recovery. At odds for months with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over a Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed lost Saturday’s vote of confidence. Ahmed (pictured)…
Juba, Dec. 5, 2014 (SDN) – The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment Zimbabwe’s Raisedon Zenenga as his deputy special representative of the UN assistance mission in Somalia (UNSOM), replacing Algeria’s Fatiha Serour. Ki-moon, in a statement, acknowledged Serour’s leadership contributions, especially in support of the political process, human rights, rule of law and…
Federal agents are investigating a possible hate crime after a Kansas man struck and killed a Somali teenager as he was leaving a mosque Thursday evening. Ahmed Aden, 43, is accused of deliberately running down 15-year-old Abdisamad Sheikh-Hussein as he was getting into a parked car outside the Somali Center of Kansas City, Reuters reported….
The European Court of Human Rights announced its judgment in two Somali piracy cases versus France on Thursday, siding with the pirates. The court stated that the suspected pirates, apprehended in Somalia by the French authorities, should have been brought before a legal authority as soon as they arrived in France. These two cases…
A Kenya military plane has crashed in southern Somalia, the army said, citing “technical problems” while Somalia’s al-Shabab fighters claimed they had shot it down. There are reports that the pilot is dead and two members of the crew are missing after Thursday’s incident. Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said that the jet…
UPDF Spokesman Lt.Col. Paddy Ankunda has a close relationship for A Somali woman whom is purported to be his second wife. According to Uganda based online newspaper Ugandan drone Col Akunda who hails from Rukungiri and a close friend to current internal minister Gen Aronda is living a life of seasons. Somali elites have warned…